Haunting, Beautiful Images That Capture the Melancholy of Heartbreak

After ending a serious relationship six years ago, the photographer Hsin Wang was left questioning not just the partnership but also herself: What did she do wrong? What could she have done differently? What was wrong with her?

In her series “De-Selfing,” Wang asks the questions we’ve all asked ourselves at one point or another — and turns the emotional process into her own cathartic portfolio. The images in the series revolve around the things she thought (or still thinks) might have pleased her partner and aspects of herself she might have changed — expressed with the help of symbolic objects like eggs, berries and smashed ice cream cones. Using monotonous gray tones to background these vivid, contrasting props and the faceless subjects of her photos, she communicates both the stagnancy of sadness and the unexpected, often overwhelming, pang of sorrow. She reminds us — beautifully — what it is like to be heartbroken.